nowornever

For my upcoming Silver Shadow cruise from NYC - QUE, the hotel is the Intercontinental Times Square.

My understanding is that if there are 3 sea days, they will have a director. Look for the "spade" symbol on the website when you look at the cruise. Things change so this policy may have been updated.

Thank you so much Scottca, I do really appreciate your thoughts. These are excellent suggestions & I'm grateful for your time & expertise.

Thanks, scottca. Not really interested in the Hollywood stuff - been there, done that & really liked it at the time but I'm thinking mainly of the LACMA & I think I'll check out what is going on at Disney Concert Hall. Safety is a huge concern for me & I've always felt secure at Fairmonts. I'd love to know your favorite hotels in the same category as the Fairmont. You're such an asset on this board & again, I'm so happy I ran across it.

I'm so happy to find this forum. To you Angelenos, What is your opinion of staying in Century City (Fairmont) for a couple of nights before boarding a cruise at the "World Cruise Center?" Too far from LAX or WCC? I know it's close to shopping but are the logistics bad? Using Uber or Lyft. Thanks - I really appreciate the help you're giving.

I totally agree! I wouldn't trade my travel agent of 20+ years for anything - she or he can get you out of many snafu's around the globe. Find a good one through friends & neighbors' recommendations. A trusted & reliable TA is worth her/his weight in gold.

This is great information - thank you for taking time to post the menus & write such a comprehensive review.

Thanks for all the info. - it takes a village!

Good information. Thanks - 220? 110?

Can you tell me about the Ovation electrical outlet configuration near the sleeping area? It would be much appreciated.

Somewhere on one of these boards was posted a menu of a "special" meal served onboard & the wines were Robert Mondavi Woodbridge white & red....those are supermarket $15- 1.5 L wines. Really? Say it isn't so!

I sent you several Carnival photos so please let me know if you received them. If that worked, I'll send you thoughts on ports. Just so many lovely memories of people as well as ports. It's just a wonderful experience &, even though the 2020 COVID cruise didn't end well - quarantined in Recife until various authorities could sort it all out - it, at least started out beautifully. Not every port is a WOW port - some are a little down & out, but you'll get a good overview of South America.

Hi JSR - bus transportation to the Sambadrome started about 8:30'ish (???). We had dinner onboard prior to the busses - the restaurant opened earlier than usual for the pax going to this. Our seats were at the ground level at about the "20 yard line" at the far end of the stadium. They were magnificent. In 2017, it was the actual competition & in 2018 it was a parade of the winners. Silversea began return transportation about 11 & then shuttled until the early morning hours. There is the first "samba" which lasted until about 11 with a break & then the others began. We stayed for the first & part of the 2nd & then returned about 2 a.m. It's a wonderful experience! I'd be happy to send you photos if you can somehow disguise your e-mail address here. At least on the Muse & the Spirit, we were docked near a dilapidated parking garage where the busses pulled in to pick up & drop off. Easy & it's probably a 1/2 hour trip to the Sambadrome. I envy you your upcoming trip. It's amazing! You will see so many amazing sights! Of course it's not an in depth study...it's a cruise! Happy planning.

Hi JSR. I can only share our experiences on this itinerary having done it 2 & 3/4 times, the last being when COVID stopped us in our tracks in 2020 in Recife on the Shadow GV. This cruise is a wonderful way to get outta' Dodge for the winter months & you are so correct about the advantage of no long flights for US/Canada passengers & you'll find a large number of repeat passengers. Silversea provides a wonderful pre-cruise experience in FLL or MIA with hotel & festive "getting to know you" dinner. Our first in 2017 didn't have one, the 2018 was at the Ritz-Carlton, FLL & the 2020 at the Biltmore in Miami. There are also many GV events on board & on land. As there are a lot of sea days, there is always a bridge director/instructor if you are interesting in learning or playing, trivia, cooking demonstrations, guest entertainers & many cultural entertainers who come onboard in various ports. Two of the 3 we did involved Carnival & the Silversea experience as beyond wonderful... fabulous seats at the Sambadrome - many shuttles to get you back to the ship at various times since the festivities go on until 4-5 a.m. They go all out - so much so that I'm thinking of doing it again in 2024! I highly recommend it & if I can answer any specific questions, bearing in mind that the last one I did was in 2020, I'll be happy to do so. Happy planning.

Hi Fudge - I'm enjoying your posts so much. Can you tell me about the electrical outlets on either side of the bed? 110? 220? Keep your wonderful posts coming our way. Many thanks.

Like almost all cities, big or small, the Seattle police dept. maintains a publicly available set of statistics on each area's crime rate. Here is a portal to the SPD crime site so that those really concerned about the location of a particular hotel can check out the area. While this map may appear a little daunting, a google search of the location of the hotel in question would locate the hotel on the grid. For those on summer cruises (almost everyone,) sunset is around 9 pm so, unless you're pub crawling until the wee hours, you'll be back in your hotel before dark over an hour later. Plus you'll have more daylight to enjoy the eye-candy scenery & the amazing sunsets from downtown. https://www.seattle.gov/police/information-and-data/crime-dashboard

This cruise to the Canadian Maritimes starts in Oct so it's a little off season but close to the opening of the UN as we encountered on a previous sailing. What was your experience?

Does anyone have experience with which hotel Silversea uses?" (And yes, for anyone who wants to jump in to say "do the research," I have and don't see any references. Some folks are getting a little hostile to people with questions.) Oy! The price quoted is very reasonable considering it's NYC, so I'm very curious - can't imagine it's a Holiday Inn or worse. Happy New Year all.

Have any of you also received it? It strongly suggests that other RC lines are being considered for reciprocal benefits in addition to adding extra "points" for larger suites; pre/post land excursions & expedition cruises. It's going to be interesting to see what evolves from this survey.

Usually Fernando hosts these but since he "jumped ship," they may be re-grouping.

If you go to the Silversea website, sign in & then go to "Venetian Society" & click on the "Venetian Society Sailings," you will see a link that shows the current ones. About 1/2 way down the page you will see the link to "Re-union Cruises." It looks like there is only one on there right now & it may be over since it's for November from BCN-LIS. A bit of an awkward path but it can be done. I get e-mails about upcoming ones once in a while but not very often.

Just a suggestion but booking through a good travel agent instead of directly can alleviate so many of these stressful situations. It doesn't cost more & most will arrange an onboard credit in addition to running interference for you when situations like these arise. Yes, the service will be so much better on board & these annoying things will disappear with the first glass of welcome champagne.🍾

Hunter died at 67. Good with that?

I just noticed that they're still there, if that website is correct. I wonder if the dock in Nome was damaged? From what I see online, there was a lot of wind & flood damage in the area. I trust the passengers, crew & staff the ship did not suffer any incidents. This was to be a turn-around port for the onward trip to Vancouver yesterday. I am to board in YVR so I've been following their progress. What a nightmare. Fingers crossed for all.

If anyone is embarking or disembarking the Wind in Nome, could you let us know about your experience during this horrid looking storm? I hope that it hasn't been too rough & the schedule hasn't been disrupted to a great extent. Travel safely & please let us know about your experiences.